PARENT SESSION
Oral Session #61: Arid Lands Restoration.
Presiding: S. Loftin
Wednesday, August 7. 1:00 PM to 4:45 PM. Mohave Meeting Room, TCC.

The effect of war on land use and reclamation in Lebanon and the Palestinian West Bank.

SQUIRES, LORIN^*,1, ¹ Utah State University Uintah Basin, Vernal, UT

ABSTRACT- Land use and management in the eastern Mediterranean countries of Lebanon and the Israeli-occupied West Bank result from an interaction between modern philosophies and capabilities and traditional practices and belief systems. This interaction is especially evident in domestic animal production and solid waste disposal. Additionally, regional conflict has destabilized an already tenuous environmental situation and demonstrated that survival and security concerns take precedence over property rights, conservation, and pollution control. These phenomena were illustrated in Lebanon during the Lebanese Civil War with interruption of forest reclamation, problems with solid waste disposal, inability to sustain environmental controls, unregulated hunting, and ocean dumping. In the current Israeli-Palestinian conflict, security concerns have resulted in land confiscation, road destruction, bulldozer activity, and vegetation removal. Survival needs in restricted conditions have resulted in road proliferation, debris accumulation, improper waste dumping, and inability to reclaim land, control pollution, and improve infrastructure. A stark contrast exists between people in developed and stable countries who focus on regional and global environmental issues and people in regions of conflict and turmoil who face daily survival challenges.

KEY WORDS: land use, war environment, lebanon, israel